In Fort Collins, prohibition took a while to wipe out

Dec. 5, 2013

Three Larimer County Officers are shown in front of the sheriff's office in the old courthouse, with results of a raid on a moonshiner's illegal whiskey still. The photo was taken June 1, 1927, during the Prohibition era, which ended in December, 1969. Courtesy Fort History Archives (http://history.poudrelibraries.org/, Image ID number: H02341)

Editor's note: Today is the 80-year anniversary of the end of prohibition in the United States, However, Fort Collins remained dry for longer. This column, originally published on Dec. 16, 2012, explains how it unfolded.

The situation was dire: saloons on every corner, drunken men staggering around, an increase in crime and James Shaw’s death of exposure when he lay down on the sidewalk, inebriated, and froze to death.

Something had to be done.

Pressured by the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, led by Auntie Stone, the city passed an ordinance prohibiting the sale of liquor in 1873. Alas, for the ladies, the ordinance was repealed only two years later when a group of businessmen petitioned the city fathers. There followed various attempts to stem the tide of “idle and vicious men” roaming the streets in their cups: an increase in the cost of a liquor license, which had been quite low (an unpopular move), for one. But the ladies persisted, even after Auntie Stone died, and in 1896, Ordinance 8 was passed, prohibiting the purchase, sale or providing by gift of liquor within the city limits.

Perhaps impressed by the ordinance, Carrie Nation came here in 1906.

Creative businessmen and others found ways around the ordinance. In drugstores, liquor was sold under the guise of “medicinal purposes,” and a brisk bootlegging business emerged. One memorable turn-of-the-century bootlegger was R.A. “Blackie” Mason. Until the quarry at Stout west of town shut down, the free-flowing supply of liquor drew locals, as did “The Jungle” north of town, where crime was rampant. In the early 20th century, Marie Lafitte was well known as an illicit source of liquor.

Driving to nearby Wellington, where there was known to be a still, people sometimes got into accidents on the way home. Moreover, revenue was leaving the city. It became increasingly clear that the ordinance needed to be eased a bit, so in 1936, the council approved the sale of 3.2 percent beer. Soon afterward, the Town Pump opened for business.

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That did not answer the desire for hard liquor. In the 1950s, justice of the peace Wally Bujack recalled, officials were well aware of Boston Charlie selling liquor from the back of his taxicab, but they couldn’t catch him at it. Ladd’s Covered Wagon, just outside the city limits, was the first restaurant in the Fort Collins area to sell liquor to patrons.

The WCTU remained active, but the town was growing and changing. An influx of veterans after World War II, coming here to go to college on the GI Bill, meant a significant increase in population, and in sophistication. Colorado A&M College, under the leadership of William Morgan, became Colorado State University, expanding offerings and departments and drawing even more students. More industries came to town, bringing employees. The days of even semi-enforceable prohibition were clearly coming to an end.

So in the late 1960s, Mayor Tom Bennett gave up his position in order to join the City Council and work for an end to prohibition, which had long since ended in the rest of the country. The effort was successful; in 1969, Ordinance 8 was repealed. After more than 80 years, Fort Collins was dry no longer.